Deck 1: Ancient America, Before 1492

Question 1

Why did native peoples in California remain hunters and gatherers for hundreds of years after Europeans arrived in the Western Hemisphere?

A) Little competition existed for food sources in California.
B) Both land and ocean provided an abundant food supply.
C) The California peoples ate only fish and marine life.
D) The few tribes in the region shared acorn-gathering territory.

Answer 1

Both land and ocean provided an abundant food supply.

Question 2

What was the main source of food for Archaic peoples inhabiting the Great Basin?

A) Bison
B) Fish
C) Plants
D) Waterfowl

Answer 2

Plants

Question 3

Although experts debate the exact time people began migrating to North America, the first migrants probably arrived

A) around 25,000 B.P.
B) around 15,000 B.P.
C) more than 1.5 million years ago.
D) fewer than 5,000 years ago.

Answer 3

around 15,000 B.P.

Question 4

What does the term Archaic describe?

A) Hunting and gathering cultures that descended from Paleo-Indians
B) Agricultural cultures that preceded the Paleo-Indians before 13,000 B.P.
C) The historical events that occurred from A.D. 800 to A.D.1500
D) The historical era that begins with the development of agriculture

Question 5

The distinction between the study of humans by archaeologists and the study of humans by historians is often denoted by the

A) development of architecture.
B) use of fire.
C) invention of writing.
D) use of verbal language.

Question 6

How long did it take Paleo-Indians to migrate throughout the Western Hemisphere after their initial arrival?

A) 50 years
B) 100 years
C) 1,000 years
D) 10,000 years

Question 7

Archaic Indians who hunted the bison herds of the Great Plains were

A) skilled horsemen who utilized speed to catch animals.
B) nomads who moved constantly with their prey.
C) solitary hunters who attacked animals as they slept.
D) cautious hunters who avoided stampeding the herds.

Question 8

How did Native American cultures adapt to the extinction of big game?

A) Native Americans adopted stationary agriculture.
B) Paleo-Indians domesticated larger animals.
C) Native Americans moved only to warm climates.
D) Paleo-Indians began foraging wild plant foods.

Question 9

The Archaic Indians in the Great Basin inhabited a region with

A) moderate temperature variations.
B) few game animals and waterfowl.
C) predominantly desert topography.
D) great environmental diversity.

Question 10

About 11,000 years ago, the Paleo-Indians faced a major crisis because

A) the temperature cooled dramatically, making it more difficult to live.
B) the large animals they hunted had difficulty adapting to a warming climate.
C) hunters had killed too many small animals, eliminating the food sources of the large mammals.
D) a lengthy drought led to a massive shortage of edible plants.

Question 11

Though ancient Americans lacked writing skills, they

A) knew how to read.
B) shared a common spoken language.
C) left detailed records of births and deaths.
D) used other kinds of symbolic representation.

Question 12

How did the introduction of bows and arrows affect Archaic Indians?

A) Bows permitted hunters to wound animals from farther away.
B) Indians traded the costly bows and arrows for food.
C) Arrowheads were larger and heavier than spear points but equally effective.
D) New weapons allowed Great Plains hunters to abandon their nomadic lifestyle.

Question 13

Archaeological evidence indicates that the California Chumash culture was characterized by

A) a highly nomadic existence.
B) a surprisingly peaceful society.
C) relatively permanent villages.
D) a population living on the edge of starvation.

Question 14

When Europeans arrived in 1492, Native American cultures were

A) dying off due to lack of food and environmental problems.
B) characterized by an impressive level of similarity and unity.
C) divided into about twenty groups whose members shared cultural traits.
D) so varied that they defy easy and simple description.

Question 15

What do the artifacts that have survived from the Paleo-Indian era suggest about the first Americans?

A) They specialized in hunting big mammals.
B) They developed permanent settlements along the Canadian Rockies.
C) They used bows and arrows to kill small animals.
D) They ate no plant foods.

Question 16

Which of the following is an accurate description of Archaic Indians?

A) They depended solely on agriculture for food.
B) Most established permanent, though small, villages.
C) They hunted smaller game with traps, nets, and hooks.
D) They domesticated animals as a food source.

Question 17

How do modern archaeologists study ancient peoples?

A) They rely only on written documents.
B) They rely only on what they can learn from artifacts.
C) They combine a variety of approaches.
D) They make an educated guess based on a specific natural environment.

Question 18

How do historians study the past?

A) They mainly concentrate on written documents to determine the attitudes of a people.
B) They privilege physical artifacts, such as bones and buildings, over written documents.
C) They use the same methods as archaeologists to obtain information.
D) They study only public writings and ignore biased personal writings.

Question 19

What was the reason for the early, prolonged absence of humans in the Western Hemisphere?

A) The warm climate of Africa attracted most of the earth's population.
B) Large herds of mammoths made migration to the Americas too dangerous.
C) North and South America had become detached from the continent of Pangaea.
D) Plentiful food made it unnecessary for northern European tribes to seek a different home.

Question 20

How did climate change allow hunters to reach the Western Hemisphere?

A) It raised the sea level of the Bering Strait to allow ships to pass submerged icebergs.
B) More moderate temperatures allowed people to live farther north and east.
C) A long cold spell created the wide land bridge of Beringia.
D) The change in climate killed off threatening herds of mammoths and bison.

Question 21

Why do archaeologists believe that the first ancient Woodland mound builders were organized into chiefdoms?

A) The legend of one chief has survived for thousands of years in the local Indian culture.
B) The lack of artifacts inside the mounds indicates that chiefs seized all valuables.
C) The complexity of the mounds suggests that one chief commanded labor from others.
D) Ancient peoples had a tendency to organize themselves into chiefdoms.

Question 22

The Anasazi culture disappeared due to

A) a drought that lasted more than fifty years.
B) the Anasazi's loss of a series of wars with neighboring groups.
C) reasons that remain a mystery to scholars.
D) the exodus of Anasazi to the land of the great bison.

Question 23

When did corn become a food crop for southwestern cultures?

A) A.D. 1620
B) A.D. 1492
C) 3500 B.P.
D) 6000 B.P.

Question 24

Archaic Northwest peoples took advantage of which plentiful resource for sustenance and for trade?

A) Fish
B) Acorns
C) Bison
D) Deer

Question 25

How did the diet and culture of Woodland peoples change around 4000 B.P.?

A) They stopped eating wild plants, seeds, and nuts.
B) They abandoned their hunting-gathering lifestyle.
C) They began focusing less on hunting and more on plant gathering.
D) They adopted limited forms of plant growing.

Question 26

How did agriculture change Archaic cultures?

A) It encouraged the gradual establishment of permanent settlements.
B) It discouraged permanent settlements and encouraged mobility.
C) It quickly led to the disappearance of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
D) It made Native Americans more vulnerable to disease.

Question 27

Multistory cliff dwellings and pueblos are residential structures associated with the

A) Hohokam culture.
B) Adena people.
C) Anasazi culture.
D) Hopewell excavations.

Question 28

What is a prudent estimate of the population of Native Americans in North America at the time of Columbus's arrival in the New World?

A) 500,000
B) 1 million
C) 4 million
D) 15 million

Question 29

Scholars speculate that Hopewell culture declined because

A) farming and new weapons made central authority unnecessary.
B) repeated droughts wiped out the local food supply.
C) a mysterious disease suddenly killed the entire population.
D) their desire for conquest led them to overextend their military forces.

Question 30

Experts believe that the Cahokians used woodhenges for

A) political ceremonies.
B) religious rituals.
C) burial sites.
D) celestial observations.

Question 31

Burial mounds and chiefdoms are associated with which ancient Americans?

A) Southwestern peoples
B) Woodland peoples
C) Pacific Northwest peoples
D) Great Basin peoples

Question 32

What environmental factor shaped the cultures of the Archaic peoples of the Eastern Woodland?

A) Mountains
B) Forests
C) A desert
D) The seacoast

Question 33

Early Woodland Indians obtained food by

A) hunting deer.
B) harvesting wild corn.
C) fishing for salmon.
D) growing a variety of crops.

Question 34

What does analysis of artifacts in burial mounds reveal about the Hopewell chiefdom?

A) The people did not engage in trade with other tribes.
B) The people lacked sophisticated artisan skills.
C) Its trade network stretched across the continent.
D) Most chiefs rejected lavish personal effects.

Question 35

Although the two regions had roughly the same population in 1492, the population density of North America was

A) much greater than that of England.
B) much less than that of England.
C) about the same as that of England.
D) greater than that of England in some areas and less than that of England in others.

Question 36

Why did Archaic cultures in the Southwest adopt agriculture?

A) Their climate produced predictable amounts of rainfall.
B) Fertile soil yielded surplus quantities of wild plant food.
C) There were fewer animals for hunting in the Southwest.
D) The supply of wild plant food was highly unreliable.

Question 37

Ancient southwestern Indians became experts in the conservation of

A) water.
B) soil.
C) wild game.
D) timber.

Question 38

Why did Hohokam settlements utilize irrigation canals?

A) Canals played a prominent role in religious traditions.
B) Canals enabled the people to hunt in a larger area.
C) Canals facilitated waterborne trade between tribes.
D) Canals allowed planting and harvesting crops twice a year.

Question 39

What feature characterized the settlements of the Mogollon culture?

A) Hierarchical political organization
B) Mound-building
C) Elaborate irrigation systems
D) Pit houses

Question 40

Why did nomadic peoples shun the use of pottery?

A) Pots were too heavy to carry around.
B) Baskets proved more reliable.
C) Most tribes could not obtain pottery.
D) Pottery carried no trade value.

Question 41

The League of Five Nations, which remained powerful well into the eighteenth century, was formed as

A) an alliance among European nations to promote New World exploration.
B) a confederation of the Aztec tribes for the purpose of establishing a trade network.
C) an alliance of Algonquian tribes to perpetuate their nomadic existence.
D) a confederation of the Iroquoian tribes for the purposes of war and diplomacy.

Question 42

The 4 million Native Americans in North America in 1492 differed in where they lived and how their cultures had adapted to their local natural environments, but they also had many similarities. Describe how these cultures were similar to one another and how they differed from the culture of Europe at the time.

Question 43

Evidence indicates that before 1492, Native Americans

A) lived in peace and harmony with one another.
B) endured constant ethnic conflicts.
C) engaged in extensive religious conflicts.
D) practiced human sacrifice.

Question 44

Describe the size and scope of the Mexica Empire at the time of its discovery by the Europeans after 1492, and explain how it got to be so large in physical size and population.

Question 45

The Athapascan tribes-mainly Apache and Navajo-were

A) migrants from Mesoamerica who invaded the Southwest.
B) skillful warriors who preyed on the sedentary Pueblo Indians.
C) successful farmers who grew both corn and sunflowers.
D) descendants of the Anasazi who lived in settled communities.

Question 46

Describe the ways that Eastern Woodland cultures interacted with the natural environment. What challenges and opportunities did they encounter?

Question 47

Which group held the most exalted position in Mexican society?

A) Priests
B) Traders
C) Warriors
D) Merchants

Question 48

Discuss how climate shaped the lives of Ancient Americans in present-day Arizona, New Mexico, and southern portions of Utah and Colorado. How did southwestern Indians confront climate problems? How did they remain vulnerable?

Question 49

Describe the two major adaptations the Paleo-Indians made in their way of life as the mammoths and other large game they hunted became extinct.

Question 50

Spanish conquerors exploited which weakness of the Mexica empire?

A) The empire's subjects did not see the Mexica as legitimate or fair rulers.
B) The Mexica relied too heavily on trade with neighboring cultures.
C) The political leaders were beginning a democratic reform movement.
D) Diverse tribal factions were often in conflict with one another.

Question 51

Around 2500 B.P., members of Woodland cultures in the vast Mississippi Valley began to construct burial mounds and other earthworks, suggesting the existence of social and political hierarchies that archaeologists term chiefdoms. Define chiefdoms and briefly explain what archaeologists have found in burial mounds and what these objects reveal about Woodland cultures.

Question 52

What characteristic was common across the many tribes inhabiting North America at the dawn of European colonization?

A) The use of some form of written language
B) Dependence on hunting and gathering for most of their food
C) The use of domesticated animals for hunting and agricultural production
D) A culture developed according to local natural environments

Question 53

In A.D. 1492, the empire of the Mexica

A) stretched from Brazil to Mexico.
B) encompassed up to 25 million people.
C) possessed land roughly equal to that of Spain.
D) traded peacefully with neighboring groups.

Question 54

The Mexica used an extensive tribute system to redistribute wealth from

A) the poor to the rich.
B) the nobles to the poor.
C) political leaders to religious leaders.
D) the common people to warriors.

Question 55

How did Native Americans relate to the natural environment?

A) They passively lived in harmony with the environment.
B) They adapted to it in order to make their lives easier without depleting resources.
C) They changed the environment in a variety of ways that served their own interests.
D) They deliberately and continually depleted resources while migrating to new areas.

Question 56

Explain how the adoption of bows and arrows affected Great Plains hunters' livelihoods.

Question 57

Explain the factors that contributed to cultural diversity among ancient peoples of present-day California. How did this compare with other regions of ancient America?

Question 58

Eastern Woodland peoples around the time of Columbus's arrival in 1492 clustered into which three major groups?

A) Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Muskogean peoples
B) Pawnee, Mandan, and Comanche tribes
C) Apache, Navajo, and Hopi tribes
D) Sioux, Cheyenne, and Blackfeet peoples

Question 59

Describe the two major developments that made it possible for human beings to migrate to the Western Hemisphere from Asia.

Question 60

Evaluate the following statement about ancient Americans: The absence of written sources means that ancient human beings' history cannot be reconstructed with the detail and certainty made possible by writing.

Question 61

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section.
Hierarchical social organization headed by a chief. Archaeologists posit that the Woodland cultures were organized in this way because the construction of their characteristic burial mounds likely required one person having command over the labor of others.

A)Archaic Indians
B)Beringia
C)burial mounds
D)Cahokia
E)chiefdom
F)Clovis points
G)hunter-gatherer
H)Mexica
I)Paleo-Indians
J)Pueblo Bonito
K)pueblos
L)tribute

Question 62

When the first European explorers encountered the culture of the Mexica in the late fifteenth century, they were astounded at the complexity of Mexican society and the wealth of their empire. Explain the conditions existing within this culture that made possible the achievements of the Mexica. Include a discussion of the power structure that permeated and controlled their society.

Question 63

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section.
The largest ceremonial site in ancient North America-located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, across from present-day St. Louis-where thousands of inhabitants built hundreds of earthen mounds between about A.D. 800 and A.D. 1500.

A)Archaic Indians
B)Beringia
C)burial mounds
D)Cahokia
E)chiefdom
F)Clovis points
G)hunter-gatherer
H)Mexica
I)Paleo-Indians
J)Pueblo Bonito
K)pueblos
L)tribute

Question 64

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section.
Archaeologists' term for the first migrants into North America and their descendants who spread across the Americas between approximately 15,000 B.P. and 13,500 B.P.

A)Archaic Indians
B)Beringia
C)burial mounds
D)Cahokia
E)chiefdom
F)Clovis points
G)hunter-gatherer
H)Mexica
I)Paleo-Indians
J)Pueblo Bonito
K)pueblos
L)tribute

Question 65

Ancient Americans and their descendants resided in North America for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Write an essay in which you describe how archaeological discoveries helped scholars better understand the migration of humans into the Americas, provide an overview of the origins of these first Americans and the geological conditions that facilitated their migration, and explain how the interaction between Native Americans and the environment created the astounding variety of cultures that existed when Europeans began to explore the New World.

Question 66

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section.
Hunting-gathering peoples who descended from Paleo-Indians and dominated the Americas from approximately 10,000 B.P. to between 4000 B.P. and 3000 B.P.

A)Archaic Indians
B)Beringia
C)burial mounds
D)Cahokia
E)chiefdom
F)Clovis points
G)hunter-gatherer
H)Mexica
I)Paleo-Indians
J)Pueblo Bonito
K)pueblos
L)tribute

Question 67

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section.
A way of life that involved procuring game and vegetation naturally, as opposed to engaging in agriculture and animal husbandry. Archaic Indians and their descendants in North America used this means of subsistence for centuries.

A)Archaic Indians
B)Beringia
C)burial mounds
D)Cahokia
E)chiefdom
F)Clovis points
G)hunter-gatherer
H)Mexica
I)Paleo-Indians
J)Pueblo Bonito
K)pueblos
L)tribute

Question 68

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section.
The goods the Mexica collected from conquered peoples, from basic food products to candidates for human sacrifice.

A)Archaic Indians
B)Beringia
C)burial mounds
D)Cahokia
E)chiefdom
F)Clovis points
G)hunter-gatherer
H)Mexica
I)Paleo-Indians
J)Pueblo Bonito
K)pueblos
L)tribute

Question 69

Beginning about 4000 B.P., distinctive southwestern cultures began to depend on agriculture and build permanent settlements. Discuss the cultures and challenges of the ancient Americans found in present-day Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado.

Question 70

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section.
An empire that stretched from coast to coast across central Mexico and encompassed as many as 25 million people. Their culture was characterized by steep hierarchy and devotion to the war god Huitzilopochtli.

A)Archaic Indians
B)Beringia
C)burial mounds
D)Cahokia
E)chiefdom
F)Clovis points
G)hunter-gatherer
H)Mexica
I)Paleo-Indians
J)Pueblo Bonito
K)pueblos
L)tribute

Question 71

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section.
Earthen constructions by ancient American peoples, especially throughout the gigantic drainage of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, after about 2500 B.P.; they were often used to bury important leaders and to enact major ceremonies.

A)Archaic Indians
B)Beringia
C)burial mounds
D)Cahokia
E)chiefdom
F)Clovis points
G)hunter-gatherer
H)Mexica
I)Paleo-Indians
J)Pueblo Bonito
K)pueblos
L)tribute

Question 72

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section.
The land bridge between Siberia and Alaska that was exposed by the Wisconsin glaciation, allowing people to migrate into the Western Hemisphere.

A)Archaic Indians
B)Beringia
C)burial mounds
D)Cahokia
E)chiefdom
F)Clovis points
G)hunter-gatherer
H)Mexica
I)Paleo-Indians
J)Pueblo Bonito
K)pueblos
L)tribute

Question 73

Archaic hunters and gatherers throughout North America shared some common traits but also lived very differently. Write an essay that explains how various natural environments produced differing hunter-gatherer cultures. What implications did the variation in cultures have for archaic peoples?

Question 74

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section.
Distinctively shaped spearheads used by Paleo-Indians and named for the place in New Mexico where they were first excavated.

A)Archaic Indians
B)Beringia
C)burial mounds
D)Cahokia
E)chiefdom
F)Clovis points
G)hunter-gatherer
H)Mexica
I)Paleo-Indians
J)Pueblo Bonito
K)pueblos
L)tribute

Question 75

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section.
Multi-unit dwellings, storage spaces, and ceremonial centers-often termed kivas-built by ancient Americans in the Southwest for centuries around A.D. 1000.

A)Archaic Indians
B)Beringia
C)burial mounds
D)Cahokia
E)chiefdom
F)Clovis points
G)hunter-gatherer
H)Mexica
I)Paleo-Indians
J)Pueblo Bonito
K)pueblos
L)tribute

Question 76

Scholars believe that around 2500 B.P., some Woodland cultures organized as chiefdoms. These chiefdoms produced hierarchical and centralized power structures. What do the artifacts from these cultures suggest about the roles played by chiefs? Why were these cultures not in existence at the time of European arrival?

Question 77

Use the following to answer questions :
Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example provided in the Definitions section.
The largest residential and ceremonial site, containing more than 600 rooms and 35 kivas, in the major Anasazi cultural center of Chaco Canyon in present-day New Mexico.

A)Archaic Indians
B)Beringia
C)burial mounds
D)Cahokia
E)chiefdom
F)Clovis points
G)hunter-gatherer
H)Mexica
I)Paleo-Indians
J)Pueblo Bonito
K)pueblos
L)tribute